Author's note:
Don't worry, I wouldn't end a story that way. Let's compare it to the movie; the most exiting part is when Alice fights the `wocky.´ Then I'd say we're somewhere around the escape from Salazen Grum… So there's still some things that has to happen, I can't just escape from my idea of how it should end, 'cause that would be bad.
17. By the White!
The only possible way to describe the light was using the word ´white,` for that was exactly what it was. There was none of those colourful blobs that always appeared if you stared into the sun too long. This white light was calm and pure; nothing was there to distract Isabel. She was the only one around.
"Isabel…" to say that Isabel jumped at the sound of the stranger voice would be an understatement. The girl performed an `upwards-fall´ worthy of McTwisp, affrightedly looking to find the speaker.
"You will not find me." the voice said. "For I am nothing and everything, nowhere and everywhere, all at once."
"What do you want with me?" Isabel squealed, blushing at how silly it sounded.
"Ah… That's not the question. The question is; what is it that you want from me? It has come to my attention that you made a wish on your unbirthday. Are you happy with this wish of yours?"
"I don't know. I may have spoken in haste."
"A doubter, eh?" the voice chuckled. "Should we take a look, then."
"At what?"
"Your worlds; how they would look it Alice were not your mother."
Alice Kingsleigh was mad, bonkers, off her head. She hadn't always been this way; once she'd been a charming young lady, a lady of society, with a whole life in front of her.
Then something happened…
No one knew what had happened to her. She'd ran off from her own engagement party. When she came back, she was a changed woman. She was restless; her eyes would fly across the room, never staying at one place. No, her eyes seemed to want to be everywhere at once, the only time they got some rest was when Alice was asleep. If someone tried talking to her, the girl would burst into a shrill laugh, or yell in some kind of made-up language.
Yes, Alice Kingsleigh was, indeed, mad as a hatter.
"What happened to her?" Isabel whispered.
"She never regained her muchness. The consequences drove her insane." the voice tsked. "You were part of her getting the muchness back."
"I wasn't even born when that happened."
"No, but you were there; inside of her. Your muchness became hers. Without you…"
The white Queen always looked so troubled nowadays, there were wrinkles on her forehead, proof that Time had been rough on the once majesty. Her white hair was caked with dirt and coagulated blood, and her dress had yellowed with age. So many of her loyal subjects had been slaughtered, and she'd been unable to help them. She tried to move, to change her position, but the painful shackles kept her to her place, only clanking teasingly.
"The red Queen defeated her." the voice explained.
In a shady place, close to the windmill, stood a solitary tombstone, covered in mosses, the outlandish words hardly visible.
("What does it say?" Isabel whispered before realising she already knew.)
Here lies a man with the heart of a champion.
He fought bravely, to save the one he loved,
But failed miserably.
May he Futterwacken in the afterlife.
Remember Tarrant Hightopp;
A caring friend, a loving brother, a mad hatter.
"He died?" Isabel cried. "How?"
"On the Frabjous Day, it was he, not Alice, who yielded the sword of Vorpal. Alas, only an Alice can stand a chance against the dreaded Jabberwocky…" there was a heavy sigh. "His friends buried what was left of him."
"What was left?"
"His hat. Before the battle, he presented it to the Cheshire cat. Otherwise, there wouldn't even be a grave."
Mallyumkun stood by a black river; staring into the water, watching as her tears blended with it.
"Fairfarren, Tarrant…" she sniffled.
A dark shape crawled up behind her, gaily sweeping its tail.
"You know, Mally. The best part of playing Cat and Mouse is Sudden Death." the vicious Cheshire cat growled before pouncing.
"Chess would never do that!" Isabel protested.
"Oh, but he would. The grief of having lost a friend made him go mad, attacking anything that came in his way."
"But Mally…"
"She knew he was there. She wanted to die. It's called Guilt of the Survivor."
"No more of this, please! Let me go home."
"You have no home in this place."
"You know what I mean. I un-wish my wish." thoughtfully, the girl added; "Was any of this real, or did it just happen in my imagination?"
Her question wasn't answered.
Isabel was lying head-first on a cold floor. How she'd gotten there didn't matter, all she cared about was the fact it was actually there. She was back! She threw her arms around her mother.
"I lied." she whispered. "I don't wish I had another mother."
"I know, sweetheart. I know."
Author's note:
See, it's not over yet. And also, the next chapter will contain more of Tarrant and you might get to know how he'll be saved from the madness, or you might not, we'll just have to see about that… But there's a big probababillity that will happen.